Crop square after a 9:16 generate

Crop the 9:16 file to 1:1 when the destination is the feed, not Reels. Crop a video to square (edit_video, aspect 1:1) is a centered square on footage you already have. It is not a new generate. It throws away the top and bottom of a vertical take. Burned captions that lived in the 9:16 safe area will sit in the middle of a square, or vanish into the cut. Crop first. Caption the square. Do not recaption a Reel file and hope the feed ignores the extra pixels.

This page is 9:16 → 1:1 after the Reel generate exists. It is not “pick 9:16 before you generate,” and it is not 16:9 → 9:16.

Feed is not Reels

Instagram’s feed still wants a square (or 4:5 portrait) in a way Reels does not. Reels, TikTok, Shorts, Facebook Reels: 9:16 is the player. The feed grid is a different window. A 9:16 upload into a 1:1 slot letterboxes or the platform crops for you — usually a centre punch you did not preview. Do the crop on purpose.

Crop video to square:

1. Supply the 9:16 source.
2. Request 1:1.
3. Name what stays centered: the face, the pack, the hands. Square cuts the most off a tall shot of any common ratio. A talking-head that was composed for the upper third of 9:16 may lose the pack at the bottom and feel short on headroom if you only centre the nose.
4. Preview at 480p (preview:true, per-user cooldown). Then export.

The tool reframes existing footage. It cannot invent the sides of a square that 9:16 never rendered. A vertical close-up has no left-right room to give. You are cutting forehead and product, not revealing a set.

4:5 (1080×1350) is not 1:1. If the feed brief is 4:5, say 4:5. Change video aspect ratio is the general door. This page is the square job.

Do not generate a second 1:1 take “for the feed” unless the 9:16 composition cannot survive the punch. A new generate is a new face, a new label, a new bill. Crop is the cheap test. Preview. If the SKU dies, then you owe a generate at 1:1, with the still cropped square first if you are on I2V.

What the punch actually removes

A 1080×1920 frame cropped to 1080×1080 keeps a band through the middle unless you offset. Typical 9:16 UGC puts:

• Face in the upper third.
• Product in the middle.
• Captions and legal in the lower safe area, above the username stack.

A centre square often keeps the product and eats the hair or keeps the face and eats the pack. That is the decision you make in the preview, not a surprise in the grid.

Tell the agent which object is the crop’s job:

• Face is the product (founder, creator): centre the head. Accept that the pack may become a crop you cut around, or a second square that is pack-only.
• Pack is the product: centre the label. Accept a chin-out talking head, or do not use the talking take for the feed at all. Still plus motion on the SKU is a different square.
• Both must read: you probably need two feed files, or a 4:5 that keeps more height than 1:1. One centre punch will not honour two heroes.

Captions burned for 9:16 assume a tall canvas and chrome at the bottom. After a square crop:

• Lower-third karaoke sits on the product or disappears.
• Top-safe hooks may survive if they were high enough.
• Side-safe type may be fine; 9:16 and 1:1 share width at 1080.

So: do not caption the 9:16 master and then punch. Punch, then burn type designed for 1:1. Add captions to video on the square file. 165 language codes; 21 BASIC at 1×; 9 DYNAMIC at 2×. Safe-area for feed is not TikTok’s right-hand column, but the grid still crops previews. Check the preview, not last year’s Figma.

The 9:16 master remains the Reel file. Do not overwrite it with the square export. Two outputs. One generate, if the punch survived.

When to regenerate instead of crop

Regenerate at 1:1 (or 4:5) when:

• The only readable SKU lives in the bottom 20% of the 9:16.
• The talking mouth is the hook and a centre square clips the jaw or the eyes depending on which you keep.
• You already burned captions and cannot re-export a clean 9:16. Recaptioning a punched file that still has old type in the pixels is a mess. Go back to the uncaptioned 9:16, punch, caption.

Keep the crop when:

• The action already lives in a central band (hands on a table, a pack hold, a face in a mid-shot that was not a full-body 9:16).
• You can name the centre in one noun.
• The Reel file stays 9:16 for Reels.

UGC video generator will not silently deliver a feed square because the caption mentioned “post.” Aspect is a generate control or an edit. After the fact, it is this crop.

YouTube is not the feed. Shorts want 9:16. A square on YouTube is a different player. Do not ship the Instagram 1:1 to Shorts and call it done.

Two files, one generate, captions last

Procedure for a week that needs Reels and feed:

1. Generate 9:16 if Reels is the priority (it usually is).
2. Export an uncaptioned 9:16 keeper.
3. Punch 1:1 with a named centre. Preview 480p.
4. Caption each file for its chrome. Do not copy the 9:16 burn onto the square.
5. Keep both masters.

4:5 is a different punch: more height kept than 1:1, still not the full 9:16. If the brief is “Instagram feed” without 1:1 versus 4:5, ask. A square that clips the pack when 4:5 would have kept it is a self-inflicted crop. Preview both if you are unsure; 480p is free with a cooldown. Export only the one you will post.

If you need a seat to punch the Reel into a feed square, sign up. Bring the uncaptioned 9:16. Do not bring a file that already has karaoke welded to the bottom.

FAQ

Is 1:1 the same as 4:5 for Instagram?

No. 1:1 is square. 4:5 is taller portrait for some feed placements. Say which one the brief named. Square cuts more height off a 9:16 than 4:5 does.

Can I preview the punch before I pay for the export?

Yes. preview:true is a free 480p render, subject to a per-user cooldown. Check whether the face and the SKU both survive before the charged export.

Should I caption before I crop to square?

No. Crop first. Type burned for 9:16 sits in the wrong place on 1:1. Caption the square as its own file.